Big Bend Recommendations Wanted

Hello,

I have two weeks off at the end of the year and decided to head to Big Bend from DFW on my K1600GT. I am trying to put together a plan and would appreciate any recommendations you can share on sites to see.

Good Drives in Big Bend?
Fort Davis?
Alpine?
Marfa?

I welcome your thoughts on the topic.

Thanks,

Bob

Just run all of the paved roads down there. Very limited.
The Starlight in Terlingua will give you some rustic flavor.
Do the River Rd from Terlingua to Persidio.
The Davis Mtns are cool. Do the observatory.
There's also the State Park on the westside of the Nat'l Park.
The best parts of Big Bend are not on paved roads. So, see what you can and have fun.

BB is not much for a street bike. But if you are there you can see everything that the paved paths have to offer in one day.
When you leave take 170 north along the Rio Grande. It has character.

Your K bike will be fun on 170.

If you get north into T or C, NM then PM me. Will be doing Christmas there & may have a Buell to ride.

I will be in Dallas for a day of business on the 17 or 18 of DEC. Then on to NM.

Thanks Gents!

I spent a few days in the Big Bend area earlier this year. I really enjoyed it.

Lots of good roads in the area and the park itself it quite impressive. Depending on your disposition, you may like Terlingua, or you may find it repulsive. I sure liked it a lot, and I spent an evening at the Starlight Theater and camped at the campground in town.

I toured the Observatory and would do it again. If you're not a geek, you might find the tour kind of boring.

Jamie

Another vote for the observatory and Davis Mountains. Hiway 118 is great.

We camped at Big Bend, and stayed at the Holland Hotel in Alpine on our way to BB. It's a cool restored historical hotel and there is a German-themed restaurant associated with it (not overly gourmet, but it was pretty good). The hotel rooms are all a little different from each other:
http://www.thehollandhoteltexas.com/index.html

In BB, we camped at the Rio Grande Village campground. Nearby is a little store with showers, and more importantly, cold beers.

This is great. thanks!

eyes shut mentioned a motel/hotel in Alpine. If you're into historic hotels, something different, there's also the Gage Hotel in Marathon, a bit east on 90 from Alpine. Google it.

If you're riding in from the east, I urge you to take a route thru the Hill Country in TX. Look it up. Rocksprings, etc. Do your own map. Enter the Big Bend area from Hwy 90. Catch Lantry pics, do the awesome Pecos River crossing and grab pics from the west side.

Study Butte would the a natural base to stay, and Terlingua is two spits away. If you wanna spend some bucks, the Chisos Lodge in the Nat'l Park is nice

Most of this Big Bend area you'll visit - the most rugged in all of our fifty states, imo - is in Brewster County, the largest county in TX, and also the least populated. Lots of weird and independent people live there. Catch the local scene, if you can. It's great.

Great country. Make the most of your time there.

Outstanding pic!
Really great.

This saddens me considerably. I hope she's not closing it for good. There are few things as good as sitting around the fire eating a Calamity Jane and drinking coffee while visiting with fellow bohemians.

John

Yes it is closed. She works at the Starlite Theatre now. Said between taking care of her mom and working too much she had to close it down. It is for sale. It was cool while it lasted.

As far as street riding, there is alot of great roads to ride in the Big Bend area. River Road, Ft. Davis Loop, all of Big Bend NP., Road to Santa Elena Canyon, Chisos Basin Rd.

Be careful on River Rd -- it has a few tricky corners and some weird hills. Had a friend killed on a ride there yrs ago.

If you like history check out Fort Davis. It is right out of an old John Wayne movie. I thought I would spend an hour at the fort and spent over a half day.

You're getting some great advice on your Big Bend trip. I live in North Carolina but have been to Big Bend many times, as recently as last month. I finished business in the DFW area and took back roads down to Fredericksburg and spent a night. From there, I did some Hill Country riding through the Leakey/Camp Wood area before popping out in Brackettville. From there, I just did the US 90 thing over to Marathon for a night at the Marathon Motel. I spent more three days riding the area, BBNP, Alpine, Fort Davis, Presidio, Marfa, etc.

I've you're Garmin equipped, I'll be more than happy to e-mail my route files to you. Shoot me a PM.

Mike

I agree with the above. This can be a dangerous road that will lull you into laziness. Watch your speeds and pay attention to the road. Go west toward Presidio and stop and see Ft. Leaton. It's pretty interesting.

Stay at the Big Bend Resort in Study Butte. (resort in name only). If you want upper scale lodging stay at the Lajitas Resort in Lajitas. For dinner you can't beat the Starlight.

I was just down there two weeks ago.

I have a thread over in Regional Furums Tejas along these lines. I'm planning a family trip in February. Gonna trailer the KLX and explore the state park and NP. Hiking and biking. Thanks for the info here.

While the Nat'l and State parks are nice, running and exploring the vast roads and trails within just Terliguna Ranch can gain you much more. You can bite off as much as you want. It's there.

Safe rides are always on well-traveled roads.